From: Colin Watson (watson@computing-science.aberdeen.ac.uk)
Date: Thu 02 Dec 1993 - 19:33:59 EET
The Triple Death was sometimes used by Celts for sacrifice. The victim (often
a volunteer) was drowned, strangled and impaled with a spear at the same
time. To make things humane they would be stunned on the back of the head
first. Delightful.
I've heard that it was suposedly a great honour to be sacrificed in such a
way.
Leaders would sometimes be sacrificed if times were bad. (Maybe the Celts
had the right idea after all.)
One selection process used to determine the victim was the ritual of the Black Bannock. (For those who don't know: Bannock = cake/scone). Several bannocks would be baked; one would be deliberately burned; the person who took the black bannock would be sacrificed. Sometimes the black bannock was obviously burned and a brave volunteer would take it on purpose. Sometimes it was only burned underneath, so it was more of a lottery...
This ceremony was cunningly incorporated by my GM into a game of RQ: the
PCs all new how the thing worked because we had witnessed the sombre ritual
earlier in the campaign.
We were on a pseudo-HeroQuest to find a gateway into hell. (This is a
continuation of the dragon-tale which I recounted last week, remember?).
Ok, after we'd sneaked past the dwarves who guarded the entrance we came
face to face with Death. He invited us to dine with him in his gloomy halls.
And on the menu for dessert were (you guessed it...) bannocks.
He passed the plate around and looked on expectantly.
It was a tense moment as we drew lots to see who would get the burned
bannock.
I drew the short straw...
But the result was not an instant sacrifice (or so it seemed). I was
invited to duel with the Guardian of the gate to hell (a faceless armoured
warrior with a big sword). The terms were simple: if I could kill him with
I single blow then I could pass. If not, he would slay me with a single
blow.
At this point I began to suspect what was going on.
We futilely racked up a huge number of spells on my weapon; asked the
Guardian to kneel & remove his helmet (with which he complied. Hmm worrying);
and I took a mighty swing at his head. 40-odd points of damage later his
head was still in one piece.
Now it was his turn.
I stood and faced the music.
Whoosh-CHUD went his sword as he cleft my skull in twain.
I fell dead.
The rest of the PCs were in poor spirits as they trooped out fo the halls
thinking that we had all failed.
But my spirit survived; and I'd completed the necessary ritual to enter into
hell... ie. I *had* to die.
After that the rest of the adventure was a walk in the park. The Quest
culminated with me resurrecting my own corpse and gaining the power of
resurrection for my cult (which I've regretted ever after).
It was a fun game.
___
CW.
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